Small is Successful

Small is Successful is an enlightening, captivating and timely read.

The authors pay true testimony to the enterprise and resilience of those at the forefront of sus-tainable living and one cannot help but feel inspired. Through eight case studies, you will be given an insight into the aptitude, passion and enterprise required to make a small farm succeed.

Small is Successful dispels some of the prevailing myths about the viability of working 10 acres or less. It draws acute observations on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by each case study, culminating in key findings and some thought provoking recommendations.

It is evident that whilst promoting sustainable living, many of our well intentioned regulatory sys-tems struggle to differentiate between genuine and disingenuous lifestyle choices. Aptitude, passion and enterprise are attributed to individuals. However, they are not facets of land itself or any associated development. The result is often a precautionary approach, which can some-times be perceived as imposing bureaucratic “red tape”. Small is Successful responds with re-assurance on what is possible, presenting examples of small farms where economic, social and environmental needs have all been nurtured.

Such challenges will increasingly lie in the hands of local communities themselves and as such it is important to foster confidence in what can be achieved. The authors clearly recognise this and make some very astute recommendations.

The Government’s Localism and Decentralisation Bill will encourage local communities to iden-tify the type of development that they would like to see and to set out a positive vision for their neighbourhood. There is renewed interest in the growing, provenance, production and distribu-tion of food in the UK. With proper forethought, Neighbourhood Plans could present an oppor-tunity to reinvigorate urban and rural areas to support small farms and the creation of sustain-able livelihoods. Small is Successful has not only enhanced my own understanding of how this might be achieved, but has also fed my enthusiasm toward resilient local communities that re-spond to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil. I hope that it will do the same for you.

Brett Spiller

Chair, Royal Town Planning Institute (SW) 2010

Executive Summary
1.This report looks at the economics of growing food on ten acres or less. The case studies profiled in this report include, four different styles of fruit and vegetable producer; one shiitake mushroom grower; a hatchery providing ducklings to poultry producers; a mail order seed company targeting the home gardener, and a mixed smallholding which produces cider, apple juice and honey, as well as eggs, lamband cordials. They represent a typical selection of the balance of enterprise types which is possible at this scale1.

2.The eight smallholdings demonstrate that economically viableand highly sustainableland based enterprises can be created on holdings of ten acres or less. Indeed, with the right approach such livelihoods can be created on two acres or less, although the incomes generated would be de-scribed as modest.

3.Low acreage livelihoods can be created onmarginal sites, as illustrated by several case studies fea-tured in this report. The Real Seed Collection, for example, provides livelihoods for three full-time and two part-time workers based on half an acre of semi-improved pasture at 100 metre elevation.

4.The range of enterprisessuited to low acreage livelihoods is expanding and evolving.

5.These livelihoods often follow a low and slow development trajectory, allowing growers to avoid commercial loans and build up skills and knowledge on the job. This often includes practical skills such as carpentry to further reduce costs. A slow development trajectory also allows livelihoods to develop in harmony with the eco-system, a process which takes time. Those concerned with the way in which land is farmed need to allow a relatively long period before they judge either the eco-logical or economic success of these smallholdings. This is particularly true for smallholdings de-pendant on new tree growth, e.g. orchards, forest gardens, woodlands or windbreaks.

6.The most significant factor in creating viable low acreage livelihoods is the mental attitude and ap-proachof those involved. This is a stronger determinant of success than acreage, aspect, soil condi-tions or expertise. This approach includes commitment, willingness to work long hours, patience, long-term perspective and creative, solution-focused thinking.

7.Adding value is a key to low acreage livelihoods. All eight case studies achieve high yields per unit area by intensive and/or diverse cropping and then increase the value of the raw products through some form of processing and/or direct marketing.

8.Enterprise diversity is a common feature of successful case studies. This spreads risk and enables more efficient use of land and other resources.

9.Attention to detail is a valuable characteristic. The most profitable small-scale land based enter-prises are labour intensive. For example, growing, harvesting and processing salad leaves, soft fruit, seeds and mushrooms all require careful attention to detail. A small acreage brings the benefit of being able to focus more attention per unit area of land, to maximise its productivity and profitabil-ity.

10.Horticulture is better suited to low acreage livelihoods than livestock.Livestock generally requires more space to provide nutrients and pest management than horticulture, which is capable of gen-erating highly profitable yields from very small areas of land. However, the emergence of micro-dairies suggest that a dairy serving a local village or community might be viable on ten acres or less. Further research into the role of livestock within low acreage livelihoods is needed. Livestock have historically been of great value within the small farm setting, particularly in their contribution to soil fertility, and in increasing the farm’s economic and biological diversity.

11.Most of the eight case studies began with the purchase of marginal sites, with high elevations, north facing aspects and/or exposed, denuded and compacted soils. Only one case study, Honey Pot Farm, is located on Grade I agricultural land. The case studies have demonstrated an ability to work sensitively with each site to develop livelihoods appropriate to each location and capable of improving the fertility and productivity of the land available.

12.Where growers and farmers can purchase land at or near agricultural land prices, low acreage liveli-hoods offer affordable opportunities to enter farming. High property prices remain the single greatest barrier to new entrants to small-scale farming.

13.The National Policy and Planning Framework (NPPF) for low acreage livelihoods is already largely in place. However, at the local level significant obstacles remain, with smallholders describing “Red Tape” as one of the greatest problems they face. Small changes to planning policy nationally and locally could thus unleash the significant beneficial potential of low acreage livelihoods. The review of the NPPF being undertaken in 2011 represents a unique opportunity in this respect.

Introduction
This report has been produced in response to demand from planners, prospective smallholders and or-ganisations interested in land based livelihoods. There is a common view, particularly amongst planners, agricultural assessors and farmers, that for a holding to be viable it must be large. This is perfectly under-standable given farming’s productivist direction of travel since 1945 which has seen increasing mechani-sation and standardisation within agriculture, and with it the expansion of field and farm sizes.

The assertion that farms need to be large can be challenged on a numbers of grounds. Firstly, whilst the average English farm is 145 hectares2 (368 acres), farm business income from agriculture3 has averaged£5,590 per farm per year over the last 5 years (Table 1). Once unpaid manual labour is factored in, this drops to a loss of £16,525 per farm per year. Cereal farms are on average the largest type of farm, with each farm cultivating around 210 hectares4 (519 acres). As a sector they made a loss in agriculture inthree out of the last five years - an average loss of £5,297 per farm per year- even before unpaid manual labour was accounted for5. The economic viability of cereal farms, as well as other types of farms, is reli-ant on public funding. In 2008/09, across all farm types, income from the Single Payment Scheme ac-counted for 45% of farm business income, whilst all public funding accounted for 56% (Figure 1). It isworth noting that smaller scale farms of the type covered in this report typically receive no subsidies. None of the eight case studies featured in this report receives agricultural subsidies.

Secondly, a growing body of international evidence suggests that farming on a smaller scale is more pro-ductive per acre in terms of yield, profit and other social and environmental benefits, including biodiver-sity6. These findings have emerged as a result of a change in priorities for food and farming, from that of plentiful food and food security to farming that delivers on these whilst also supporting the ecosystems upon which we all depend.